


The Galaxy's Savior

by antiviancrows



Series: experimentum facio [2]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Gen, Male Asari, shameless flirting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-27
Updated: 2015-04-27
Packaged: 2018-03-26 02:49:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3834205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antiviancrows/pseuds/antiviancrows





	The Galaxy's Savior

Shepard had since seen Amadl in action. He was ruthless in battle. And despite the new clothes and the armor she had bought for him on the Citadel, he usually went with his shirt hanging open. She asked him why, once, and he'd responded with 'sex appeal.' She found herself visiting Life Support often in between missions once more. She always told him she was 'checking in on him.' He told her if she wanted, 'all she had to do was ask and he'd fuck her brains out.' Everything he did was suggestive. He was sarcastic, and often mocking, and even managed to make Javik laugh once. Liara spoke to him once, and never again. 'He almost groped me, Shepard!' was all she'd said when she'd been asked. Shepard didn't push the issue. Amadl didn't seem to understand the concept of personal space. Or sexual harassment. 

He wasn't allowed on the Citadel anymore. 

And now she was in the armory with Amadl and James, and she was highly entertained. "So, can you dance as well as you can talk?" James asked, mirroring the question he'd asked Shepard just after meeting with the Council when she'd made her rounds to introduce herself to her new crew. "I can dance, fight, talk, and fuck like you wouldn't believe," Amadl fired back. Shepard hid her grin behind her hand as James blushed. "Way to be blunt, Loco," James said, trying to regain his composure. "I wasn't offering to fuck you, Vega. No homo, as you humans seem so fond of saying," Amadl replied, a wicked grin curving his lips up. "I didn't mean…I don't…" James started, and this time Shepard couldn't hide her laughter. "Finding this funny, Lola?" James asks, turning to look at her. "Moderately," she answers, and Amadl chuckles. "You know, James, I think he's got you beat with the flirting," Shepard remarks casually. "Oh, Shepard, you wound me. I do so much more than flirting," Amadl says, and he's suddenly very close to her. Anyone else would have perhaps taken offense at the sudden invasion of privacy, but this had quickly become normal when dealing with Amadl. "Not so far you haven't," Shepard says, and his hands are splayed open on the containers she's leaning against, his arms pinning her in. James is, by now, obviously uncomfortable. "That can change," Amadl whispers, taking a step back. This time, it's Shepard's turn to invade his personal space. "I don't think you're ready to put your money where your mouth is," she teases before backing off. "Oh, I'll put it where my mouth is, and where your mouth is, and where so much more is," he replied. 

*

They're on Tuchanka now. She'd chosen to bring Amadl and Garrus with her. The asari was splattered with gore and dust from the sands, and for the first time since leaving the truck, they had a second to take their breath. They'd only just managed to elude Kalros, and Wrex didn't seem bothered by the death of Wreav. "What was this idea you mentioned, Wrex?" Shepard asks, wiping blood and sweat off her forehead with her arm. "She came up with it, actually," Wrex says, gesturing to Eve. Shepard turned to her, waiting. "We summon Kalros to the Reaper," Eve says, and Shepard's face flickers with some unidentifiable emotion. "We've done crazier things. How do we summon her?" Shepard asks, and Amadl's face is sharp with anticipation. Wrex and Eve explain, and her face lights up. Then they're off again, and he carves a bloody path into the Reaper forces at her side. Garrus, from a slight distance and some good cover, does his best to pick off some that they miss with his sniper rifle. Wrex raises the hammers for them, and Shepard is running as fast as she can, dodging around Reapers. She doesn't shoot, just runs, and Amadl yells at her as he covers her. "This is probably the stupidest thing you've done!" She merely flashes a smile over her shoulder and brings the first hammer down. "You've got my back," she yells as she runs towards the other hammer. "There's four brutes in my way!" he retorts, and she doesn't have time to flash a smile. 

Garrus works as bait with Amadl. They give up following Shepard, and they shoot. Finally, the hammer comes down, and Kalros jumps at the Reaper. Shepard never stops moving, leaving Amadl and Garrus to fight their way after her. She's rushing towards the Shroud, towards Mordin, towards the genophage cure. Amadl admired her determination and her honesty. He doubted he would have told the krogans about the dalatrass's request. Just in case. 

She went in with Mordin and no one else. He stood and waited, and when she came out, she looked as though her heart had been torn in two. Minutes later, the Shroud exploded. The salarian had not reappeared. She caught one of the ashes in her hand and stared at the sky as it changed with the cure. 

*

She was in the bathroom, the door open, when he walked into her cabin. She was leaning over the sink, looking pale and thin and vulnerable. "Checking in on me, asari?" she asks, looking up after he'd been standing there for five minutes. "You look like hell," he says, coming to lean against her desk. "Thanks for the confidence boost," she remarks. "You could use some cheering up," he remarks. "Not your idea of it," she shoots back. "Aw, you wound me," he jests, and she smiles thinly. "Why are you here?" she asks, finally standing straight. She moves out of the bathroom. He expects her to lean against the wall or something. Instead, she moves to the couch and sits down, looking as if all the energy had drained out of her. "I'm worried about you. The whole crew is," he answers, following her and sitting next to her. "I'm fine," she insists. "Bullshit. There's no way you're fine," he says, and she curls up on the couch, her chin resting on her knees and her arms wound around her legs. "What do you want me to say? I'm Commander Shepard, savior of the galaxy. I can't admit that I'm not okay," she says, a hint of bitterness in her tone. 

He understands. She doesn't want this, any of this. She doesn't want to be in charge of anything. She doesn't want to have the galaxy on her shoulders, and he doesn't blame her. He reaches out and touches her shoulder. "Hey, it's okay to not be okay," he says. She looks up at him, and he's shocked at how dark the circles underneath her eyes are. "Maybe it is for normal people. But I'm not a normal person, and I have to keep going at breakneck speed," she murmurs, and then she rests her chin on her knees again. "You're still only human," he reminds her. A faint smile curves her lips upwards. "I'm partially cyborg, just so you know," she says, and he has to laugh. He reaches out and ruffles her head, and she takes a strange kind of comfort in the act. She stretches. "There's a bar in the lounge. I suggest we go make us of it," she says, and suddenly she looks so much better as he follows her out of her cabin and into the elevator. "There's so many ways we can make use of it," he says, back to his normal suggestive manner, and she smiles again. "I might just take you up on those, big boy. If you can make good on all that flirting," she says, and he chokes for a second. She can tell she's won, and she gives him a smirk as she steps out of the elevator. 

*

She had drank way too much. He had barely touched the alcohol, instead preferring to let her drink herself sick and occasionally perk up with a suggestive comment. Now, she was leaning over, clutching her head, and groaning. He has the unfortunate job of holding her hair back. Good thing he's not squeamish. She leans against him, and she's glad that it's going to take a while to get to the Citadel, even though there are urgent matters there that they need to attend to. "I'm on duty!" she hisses as she throws up yet again. He had not suspected her small frame capable of spewing that much bile. "Yes, you are," he says, and she groans as she leans against his legs. "Why did you let me do that?" she asks, looking up at him. "I enjoy the sight of humans bent over on their knees," he remarks offhandedly. It's her turn to choke. He gets her up and settled in bed. "Aw, gonna read me a bedtime story now?" she asks. "If you ask nicely," he replies, settling in on her couch. "Are you going to stay here?" she asks. He nods. "Who else is going to take care of your sorry ass?" he replies. She lets out a groan and orders EDI to dull the lights. The fish tank illuminates her face in a blue glow as she drifts off into sleep, Amadl keeping watch over her. She'd been in a similar situation once on Purgatory, waking up next to Aria. She preferred her strange, unlikely male asari.


End file.
